


No One You Know

by LCNH1



Series: Sinip's AU stories [2]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe, Other, merman au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 01:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17777873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LCNH1/pseuds/LCNH1
Summary: Writing Keyword challenge from @sinip759. Landed in the MerAU.Keywords "Meat", "Confusion", "Family".Surprisingly the result IS safe for work reading.





	No One You Know

Finn happily whistled “Son of a son of a Sailor” as he served a hearty breakfast to his two new housemates. Seth spent much of the meal asking questions, while Ro ate quietly and occasionally stuffed something in Seth’s mouth to quiet him down. Neither had ever tasted orange juice or milk before, and found the other breakfast foods palatable.

Ro did question the eggs that were served. “Where did these come from?” he poked at them with his knife.

“They were laid by a chicken, not a fish.” Finn showed them a picture of a chicken sitting on eggs. “They’re very fresh, since the farms west of here supply much of what I’ve prepared for you.

“The sausage is seasoned meat, the bacon is salted and cured meat, and the bread is made from plants grown on land.”

“Bread? You mean toast, right?” Seth picked up a piece of toast and took a small bite. “Hm, kinda dry….”

“Toast always needs something on it,” Finn offered some butter and jam. “The butter is salty, the jam is very sweet.” He demonstrated to them how to spread the butter and jam on each slice to try.

“So all of this is land food?” Ro asked as he tried a bite of the buttered toast.

“Unlike you two, I think the only time I’ve had fish for breakfast was at a friend’s house, trying lox and bagels. Smoked salmon on a different kind of bread.”

“Hm,” Ro took another bite of buttered toast and relaxed as he sampled the bacon and sausage. “I ask because of where most of your food comes from.”

Finn didn’t miss a beat. “The answer is no one you know.” Ro unfortunately didn’t find the quip amusing.

Seth wasn’t even listening; he slathered more jam on a second slice of toast. “Much better!” He folded the toast over and devoured it in two bites, wiping the crumbs out of his beard with the back of his hand. Ro gave his “Brother” a strange look before finishing his food and stepping away from the table.

Finn gathered Ro’s empty plate and silverware. “Did you want more?”

“I’ll eat again later. I’ll catch my own.” He marched out of the kitchen without another word.

Finn turned helplessly to Seth, who still nibbled away at the toast while he finished his eggs. “He’s not mad at you,” he assured Finn. “But that was a weird thing to say, ‘no one you know’.”

“I must have missed something - I mean, if you can talk to another sea creature, would you still eat it?”

“Ro would, if he was hungry enough.” Seth finished his toast and crunched on the last slice of bacon. “He might also just be grumpy because he didn’t catch the land food himself. He’ll come around.”

Finn’s gaze turned back to the kitchen door, hearing the front door partially slam. “Back to the ocean for him?” He asked distantly.

“Like I said,” Seth shrugged. “He didn’t catch it, so - “

Both thoughts interrupted by the clanging music of Finn’s phone. The fisherman’s expression brightened. “Excuse me, I’ll definitely need to take this.” He scooped up the phone and hurried out of the kitchen.

Seth blinked, confused. He knew that voices came out of that noisy shell from time to time, but this was the happiest he’d ever seen Finn when it made noises. Since Finn left the room, Seth was on his own for more toast.

\-------------------------

“Always good to hear from a Good Brother!” Finn didn’t even bother with the hellos. It was rare enough that he heard from his close friends in the shipping business, who had transferred to Japan for lucrative careers in the sushi industry. Luke and Karl rarely had downtime, since they had more international customers than local ones. Checking the clock, it was likely midnight in Tokyo. “You’re up late, did you ‘borrow’ some of the fresh catch and look up Hiro?”

Luke’s infectious laugh echoed through the phone. “Actually, I’m in town for a couple of days! There’s a little sushi place in New York City that wants to work out an exclusive deal with us. Karl’s holding things down while I’m out here, so I was hoping we could meet up for a beer and seafood dinner in that order.”

Finn almost jumped on the offer. “New York City~!?” He shouted back at Luke in the worst possible cowboy accent he could muster. “Actually, I’d like to bring some friends along. They’re new to the area themselves….” Finn had to really think on his feet to explain _this_ one.

“Oh really?” Luke interrupted. “Well, bring em along! I’ll just make sure there’s extra brewskis ready and I’ll see what the town market’s got in. We’ll cook, drink, and swap stories, how’s that sound? And both your buddies drink, right?”

“You know, I’ve never asked them.”

“How long you known em, ten minutes?” Another round of laughs.

“We met about eight months ago.” At least that part wasn’t a lie. “Only reconnected with them recently to help them move here. They’re staying with me until they can find work, or might help me with my boat.”

“May as well hire em, you can’t run that boat alone no matter how small it is. Size matters!” Luke laughed at his own joke. Finn just smiled.

“I’ll have them tag along. Just behave yourself around them.”

“Why? Not warning them is half the fun!”

Finn facepalmed as Luke continued to laugh through the phone. “I’m at the market now. I’ll bring in a bucket of live ones for ya, and plenty of brewskis. Get some ice and whatever your new ‘buddies’ might want, I’ll be there around four o’clock.”

“Sounds good. I’ll ‘warn’ them.” Luke laughed with Finn when the call interrupted by a loud beeping noise.

“Whatcha leave on the stove?” Luke hadn’t stopped laughing and laughed harder at the smoke alarm going off in Finn’s house.

“I think one of my roommates just burned some toast. See you at four.”

\---------------------------------------

Ro felt he could think clearer underwater. The octotaur preferred the quiet of the depths to all the noise above water. The odd crackling sounds all the food made before it was presented to him hurt his ears. Finn called it “Cooking”. There wasn’t anything wrong with the taste after he “cooked” it, but what purpose did that serve? He pondered this as one tentacle absently snapped out and caught a stray fish for him to snack on and further ponder this.

The land food didn’t make him sleepy, which alone was an improvement over what the white coat men had occasionally fed him and Seth. They never got to try the food these humans would bring, usually in multicolored bags, wrapped multiple times. Did humans have weakness to food? That they had to “cook” food for it to be edible? He shrugged and finished his snack, pondering how it would taste if he had to “cook” it.

He also pondered Finn’s statement, “no one you know”. It didn’t make him angry or guilty, but perhaps annoyed that Finn went out of his way to bring land food? And if he DID know the food before Finn “Cooked” it, Ro would stop that.

Quickly.

Ro held up his knife and sought out a place to sharpen it further.

\-------------------------------------------

Finn lost an hour of the late morning explaining to Seth how “Bread” turns into “toast” and that the bread doesn’t disappear. Seth kept pressing the lever down since the bread didn’t just “go away” and come back as toast. He’d clean the appliance out later.

He also had to apologize repeatedly for the smoke alarm’s extremely loud siren. He’d never factored in how sensitive their ears would be out of water. He shuddered to think what Ro would have done had he been in the house when the alarm went off.

“So who were you talking to when I was…” Seth gave Finn and the toaster apologetic looks.

“A friend of mine is in town and is offering to bring fresh seafood from the local market for dinner tonight so we won’t have to go catch any ourselves. He’s looking forward to meeting both of you.”

“Dunno what Ro’s gonna think of it. Do you know what food your friend is bringing?”

“He didn’t say,” Finn had neglected to ask since neither he nor Luke were fussy about meals, as long as the seafood was fresh and the beer cold. “But I better not say ‘no one you’d know’ around you or Ro.”

“You didn’t tell that other friend anything about….” Seth worried.

“Not a thing, so no. All he knows is that you and Ro are friends of mine who just moved in with me and are looking for work.”

“I don’t think Ro would want you talking about…” Seth made a head gesture toward the ocean. “Is he back yet?”

“I think we would have heard him by now. I would hate for him to miss out on fresh seafood from the local market.”

“Maybe he went to catch something for you?” Seth suggested with some forced optimism.

“I just hope he comes back soon. If it gets too late, I might have you go look for him.”

“I can go now!” Seth took off his t-shirt. “I’ll explain the whole thing to him!”

Finn checked the time and realized he still needed to get ice for the coolers. “Actually, please go look for him. By the time you two get back my friend will be here.”

\------------------------------------

Seth savored the jog from Finn’s house to the beach. He’d picked up walking and running quickly, and found it strangely calming. The rhythm of it a wave above water, brushing his dark brown hair back in the breeze. His smile hard to erase with the rush he got from having legs!

He started downhill toward the beach, spotting Ro getting dressed in the shallows. Perfect timing! “Ro~!!!” he called as he picked up speed.

Ro brushed back his jet black hair and wiped some extra ink off his face, seeing his brother hurrying to join him. “Ro!!” Seth leapt into Ro’s arms and they fell backward into the surf.

Ro struggled with his brother for a moment before standing up out of the water, Seth tucked under one arm. Seth flailed and flopped. “No fair!”

“Was Finn looking for me?” He asked simply as he walked out of the surf, Seth still flailing. “And how much more land food did you eat?”

“Toast!” Seth declared. “But I think I broke his toaster, the bread wasn’t disappearing.”

Ro shook his head and put his brother back down. “Does Finn cook all of his food?”

“Maybe he only has to cook land food,”Seth suggested. “Oh! He’s having a friend bring seafood from the market for dinner! We’re both invited!”

“Is his friend a fisherman?” Ro queried warningly.

“I.. I don’t think he is, if he’s going to the market to get food and not using a boat. That’s different, right?”

“Hm.” Ro squeezed the excess water out of his mane. “What does his friend know?”

“Nothing about - well, where we came from. So his friend will think we’re just a couple of plain old humans.” Seth beamed at the proclamation. “That way he won’t point at you.”

“And he won’t be wearing a white coat.”

“I don’t know what his friend wears.” Seth really hoped that Ro had stopped thinking about the aquarium. “Let’s just meet his friend and try to be friends with him too!”

Ro carefully slid his knife in the back pocket of his shorts. “Okay. But I will be watching him. A lot.”

\---------------------

Finn had most of the coolers filled as Luke pulled up in a beat up truck he likely borrowed from someone in town. They shared a handshake and a hug before unloading the beer from the front seat.

“So what’s this about you getting new slacker roommates?” Luke joked as he started jamming beers into the ice.

“They’re not slackers,” Finn insisted. “They are at least looking for work. They’ll both eat me out of house and home so I’ll have to hire them eventually.”

“You should have just come to Japan with me and Karl. We’d have owned half that market by now and you wouldn’t have to get on a boat every day.”

Finn demurred as he set out the chairs. “I don’t have to go out every SINGLE day,” Finn corrected his brother, “but that’s only because I’m not trying to feed the entire planet.”

“You’re thinking so small about it, bro. Seriously, do you realize what the global sushi market is doing right now? And it’s getting bigger every month! We got franchises looking for fish for their all-you-can-eat places to this dudeski in NYC who is open three days a week, serving 3-5 people a day and still managing to pay rent - in New York City!”

“Still too impersonal for me- and for new roommates, they love the ocean.”

“You know that but you couldn’t tell me what beer they drink?” Luke stood up to get the seafood from the back of the truck. “Seriously, I think you’ve only known em for ten minutes when I called this morning.”

“Like I said, I’ve not known them a year yet and we lost contact for a few months….”

“Time to make em better friends!” Luke plunked down a large metal bucket covered with a towel. “Today’s special is…. Fresh blue crab shipped up from the Baltimore piers!”

Finn raised an eyebrow as Luke whipped the towel away, revealing a few dozen crab still crawling around and over each other in the bucket. “I know you haven’t had good crab in a while.”

“There’s a joke in there somewhere, and I’m not taking the bait,” Finn smirked back. Luke laughed once more before bringing the towel back down, discovering one stubborn crab holding on to it.

“Lookee here, a volunteer to be first in the steamer!” Luke shook the towel a couple of times, but the crab refused to release. “Get back in the bucket you little - OW~!”

The crab caught Luke’s middle finger with its free claw, actually breaking some skin. “Ow, you little-” he shook the towel harder and plunged his free hand into the ice. The crab kept snapping back at Luke, refusing to be freed from the towel. Finn laughed as Luke cursed at the crab.

“Looks like someone doesn’t know how to handle their crabs,” Finn chuckled. Luke’s face started turning a very dark red from anger or embarrassment. The fisherman finally assisted, taking the towel and shaking at it over the bucket. Again the crab refused to fall in. “Either that or it’s a really strong case of them,” Finn added. Luke finally started laughing.

“So you gonna cure my crabs?” Luke managed to spit out before laughing even harder.

“Would ya stand still long enough to have em steamed?” Finn shot back. Luke rolled into the grass, holding his manhood and gasping with laughter. “And no one’s even had a drink yet.”

As Finn stood he spotted Seth and Ro returning from the beach. “Good timing!” Finn waved both of them over.

Seth jogged up first, hugging Finn before looking to the still prone and still laughing Luke. “Is he okay?” Seth crouched down and offered a hand.

“He’s fine,” Finn assured Seth as he glanced back at Ro, who stood a few feet back, arms folded and no sign of amusement.

Luke finally caught his breath and took Seth’s hand. “Oh, here’s one of the new roomies!” Luke rolled to his feet, pulling himself to his full six foot eight. “Name’s Luke Gallows. Finn and I used to fish together.”

“I’m Seth!” the shorter (mer)man introduced himself. “Wow, you might even be taller than Ro.”

“Roh?”

Seth turned to his dark skinned brother. “Ro, come meet Finn’s friend Luke Gallows! Looks like he IS a fisherman, too!”

Finn paled as Ro walked stoically up to Luke, imitating the handshake he had just seen. “So. A fisherman.”

“Well, not as much of one anymore. I run a company in Japan that helps ship fresh fish all over the world.”

“Hm.”

“You must be Roh.” Ro nodded. Luke offered a warm smile that wasn’t returned. “You boys look like a strong healthy pair, you should be carrying Finn’s boat out of the water to clean it.”

Ro puzzled that statement. Seth laughed. “Ro might be strong enough to do that all by himself!”

Finn shook his head and plunked the towel back over the bucket. “Seth and Ro are seafaring folk like us. They’re just between boats.”

Luke gestured to the open chairs. Seth happily sat in Finn’s original seat while Ro inspected the bucket. “So who’s thirsty?” Finn nervously asked.

“Beer should be cold by now, toss me one!” Luke held out an open hand. Without hesitation Finn pulled a bottle from the cooler and tossed it to Luke. “Either of you two like beer?”

Seth blinked. “I don’t know, I’ve never had one.”

Ro didn’t answer; he decided to further inspect the bucket, discovering the stubborn one still holding on to the towel. He blinked in surprise before wrapping it in the towel and walking back to the remaining empty chair.

“Roh, want a beer?” Luke offered as Finn dug one out for himself.

“No. I’ll drink water.” He placed the folded towel in his lap.

Luke could see the towel moving. “Is that one little crab still holding on? Pinched me something fierce. I should throw that one in the steamer first.”

“No,” Ro responded firmly.

“That little creep deserves it!” Luke stood up, playfully showing off his bloodied middle finger. “Look what he did!”

Ro didn’t even flinch. “Didn’t go to the bone. That was a warning pinch.”

“I’ve NEVER been pinched that hard by a crab! A lobster, maybe-”

Ro looked at Luke’s hands. “Liar. You’d be missing fingers.”

Luke playfully grabbed for the towel. Ro unplayfully grabbed Luke’s arm. “No.” Ro repeated with a deathly calm.

“That one needs a good steaming - “ Luke reached again, only to be met with what looked like a ceramic knife.

“No.” Ro said with definitive finality. “Cook the others.”

Finn hurried between them. “RO! Why the-”

“It’s no one you know,” he responded flatly.

Finn blinked. Luke had backed away from the two of them, almost all the color drained from his face.

“Ooo-kayyy,” Luke exhaled before falling back into his seat. “Some friends you’ve got here.”

“I could say the same about you,” Ro replied humorlessly as he handed the towel to Seth.

“Don’t worry Luke!” Seth assured the taller man, “Ro won’t hurt you! Just some things bother him that don’t bother other people.”

“Yeah,” Finn nervously agreed.

Seth walked over to the bucket, looking over all the crab Luke had brought. “So did you want one?”

“The one in the towel,” Luke tried to joke, withered by Ro’s glare.

Seth unwrapped the towel, seeing the small crab’s pincers snap up at his nose. “Oh yeah??” Seth glared down at it. “You’re lucky Ro saved you or he’d be the one biting you in half!” The crab snapped its pincers angrily at Seth before he balled up the towel and tossed it back to Ro.

Ro caught the towel and nodded. He looked back to Luke. “It’s too small and too tough anyway. We’ll throw it back for you.”

Luke finally relaxed a little, as did Finn. “So should we start cooking now? Steaming crab like this brings out the most flavor.”

Ro gestured for Finn to proceed as he stood up and started walking toward the house.

Luke gave both Seth and Finn a very flabbergasted look. “He pulled a knife on me over a crab he’s not even going to eat? What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing,” they both responded, before both went into jumbled explanations.

“I’ve not known him long enough - “ Finn started.

“Ro’s just a picky eater - “ Seth attempted.

Luke held up both hands, eyeing his bloodied finger. “Look, I’m not here to cause trouble, I’m here to eat, drink and tell stories. Finn, are we steaming the rest of these or is your friend gonna come back and rescue the rest of them?”

Finn glanced to Seth, who looked in the bucket. “Nah, I think we can eat the rest of them. The one Ro has would have been too tough anyway.”

“So are we actually getting to cooking?” Luke rubbed his hands together.

“I think we better start before someone changes their mind.”

\----------------------------------------

Ro walked into the house and found his way to the spare room Finn had cleared for him and Seth to stay. He unrolled the towel on the bed, the crab tumbling out and landing upside-down in the center. It flailed angrily as Ro went in the bathroom to fill a bowl with water for a temporary place for the gritty little creature. He scooped the crab into the bowl. “Sorry that I have to do this for now,” he apologized as the crab pounded the bowl with its pincers. “You won’t be stuck there six months like we were. I’m just glad you escaped… Deano.”

The crab reached up with a pincer. Ro offered a finger, which the crab gripped tightly but not painfully. “I missed you too, little brother. You’ll get a barnacle later off Finn’s boat. The rest of those that came with you won’t be bothering you anymore.”

Deano settled into the bowl as Ro left the room to rejoin Seth, Finn and Luke. _Looks like cooking is revenge served hot._

 

 

PS: The band is back together! 

 

**Author's Note:**

> A Sort-of Sequel to "Aquarium".


End file.
